The room they were in, including the furniture, was all one
large carving inside of a tree. It was a strange, surreal, and fantastic sight.
Kail and Kin sat at a table, opposite a tahkean girl with blonde hair. Kail
couldn’t help but focus on her strange inhuman features. Her tail, her clawed
fingers, and her horns. Even the teeth of the tahke seemed strangely pointed,
giving them a bestial look. Kail had been given some clothes to replace the top
that had been ripped apart; a tahkean tunic designed not to cover the body
completely, to make it easy to move in and keep the body cool. The forest
became very warm during the day, so Kail was grateful for it. Once he’d been
dressed Kin had taken him to see Ylva, the girl in front of him, who was mostly
in charge of the village.
“We came under… attack, if you can call it that, almost a
year ago.” Ylva started to explain. “Animals in the forest started to become
hostile, attacking people. A few members of our village got bitten, and they
start acting the same way. Eventually they… became what you’ve seen. Part wolf and…
very dangerous. Our doctor, Salomon, is working on a cure as we speak.”
“What about the human girl?” Kail asked, drawing a confused
look from Ylva. “Both me and Kin came here because we had a request from
someone in the city of Hombruck. Her daughter went missing in these woods.”
Ylva shook her head. “Sorry but we haven’t seen any human
girl, but I doubt she’d survive for long. She could be… dead… or she might have
turned into one of them.”
Kail looked at Kin, who just shrugged noncommittedly. Kail
sighed. Then a wave of dizziness hit him. He grabbed the table and gritted his
teeth. He felt sick. It passed. Then his stomach growled violently. He noticed
that both Kin and Ylva were looking at him. Kin patted him on the shoulder.
“You haven’t eaten for three days. Let’s get some food.” he
said. Kail agreed. As they left Kail quickly looked back at Ylva, catching her
eye. She looked at him quizzically. He quickly turned back. He couldn’t help
thinking that she hadn’t told them the whole story, but she didn’t seem
suspicious. Maybe she was keeping details from them that she herself didn’t
think were important.
“We should talk to the doctor.” Kail said.
“Sure.” Kin said unenthusiastically. “Look, he’ll probably
come to check on you anyway once he hears that you’ve woken up. He seemed
especially interested in how fast you were healing. Should probably be wary of
him. Either way, food first.” he said.
*
Back in Kail’s room, or the room he was staying in, he and
Kin ate. A combination of meat and vegetables in a bowl. Apparently they had
access to uninfected animals, which seemed strange to Kail, but he didn’t
question it.
“So have you found any leads about this girl?” Kail asked,
now that he and Kin were alone.
“Nope. No one here has seen her. I think she’s probably
dead. So no reward for us. These people still need help though. If I can help
protect them until their doctor finds a cure for this disease then I will. What
are you thinking?” he responded.
Dead? He had to
agree, as much as he didn’t want to. She probably was already dead. Kin didn’t
seem like he cared much about it though. Kail realised he’d have to tell her
mother that they couldn’t find her… if they survived. He couldn’t just leave
the tahke alone to deal with their problem, although Kail didn’t know what
their situation was regarding defence. Were they like Eastthorpe village,
without anyone that could fight?
“I agree.” Kail said. “I’ll help. Maybe we’ll find some kind
of clue while we’re here. Or maybe I’ll –“ he was cut off as Kin looked to the
doorway. The fabric was pulled to the side and a tahkean man walked in. He had
short brown hair, a short beard, and, of course, two horns. He looked at Kail
and walked over to him.
“The name’s Salomon” he said. “I’m the doctor of the
village. You’re lucky your friend found you when he did.” he motioned to Kin.
“Even then, lucky to have survived. Show me?” he motioned to Kail’s chest,
where he had been attacked. Kail nodded, lifting up his tunic to show Salomon
the scars left behind. Salomon shook his head in astonishment. “Strange. Do all
humans heal like that?” he asked. Kin laughed.
“Err.. Not that I know of.” Kail said sheepishly. Salomon
rubbed his chin in thought.
“You haven’t shown any signs of infection either… You didn’t
get bit anywhere, did you? Didn’t find any bite marks.” Salomon continued. Kail
shook his head. “You should be fine then.” he glanced at Kin before continuing.
“You should leave when you’re ready. It’s dangerous here. You don’t need to be
putting yourself in harms way for us. We’ve got things under control… Besides...
we know how this thing interacts with a tahke when it infects them, but we
don’t know what would happen to a human.” he said. Kail and Kin looked at each
other. Kin shook his head. Kail decided to be polite.
“We’ll… talk about it.” he said, with a polite nod. He then,
as if inspiration had struck him, he activated his ability to see into the
world of spirits. The world shifted around him to a glowing blue. The room around
him glowed with life, still being a living tree, and he could see the doctor in
front of him as a soul. He looked… perfectly normal, although Kail was
strangely pleased to discover that the souls of the tahke had horns and a tail
too. His sight returned back to normal.
“Right, well, if you have any questions come over to my
clinic. I hope, for your own sakes, that you return to your safe human city
though.” Salomon said before leaving.
“Well, that seemed awfully suspicious.” Kin noted. He looked
at Kail. “Did something just happen that I didn’t see? You seemed… strange for
a moment.”
“I looked at his soul.” Kail explained. “Although his soul
looked perfectly normal.”
Kin nodded. “Oh yeah, your ability to see the dead. I really
can’t tell if it’s some joke of yours that you won’t let me in to or not.”
Kail shook his head. “It’s true. Ask Yiannis the next time you see him.”
“Yiannis?” Kin asked. “How would he know?” Kail then told
Kin about the job he had joined Yiannis on. “I’m surprised you and Yiannis got
along.” Kin said.
Kail thought to object but agreed. “Me too. He seemed
pretty… well… mercenary at first. But
he ended up agreeing to protect the village so I guess he’s not so bad.”
“I guess not. Maybe he’s secretly a kind-hearted soul inside”
Kin said with a laugh. “You know, that girl Ylva, she’s not the actual head of
this place. Her grandfather is. Apparently he keeps himself isolated on an
island in the middle of a lake. Also, apparently, he’s like you. He can talk to
spirits too. Interested in meeting a fellow madman?”
Kail’s eyes widened in shock. Someone else who could talk to
the dead? He was definitely interested. He nodded enthusiastically.
“I’ll talk to some of the people here and see if I can take
you to go talk to him.” Kin said.
“Thank you.” Kail responded. He really didn’t know anything
about his ability other than that he could see souls and talk to them. He
recalled what had happened at Eastthorpe village. It had seemed like he had
been possessed by Ulric’s spirit. Was that a part of his ability too? “If he
really can though…. please don’t call him a madman. It is real.”
*
When Kail next woke up it was dark. He could hear voices coming
from outside. He looked to the door to see a familiar figure looking out the
door. He got out of bed and walked over to join her, making her jump. It was
the girl who he assumed had been taking care of him when he’d been asleep for
three days. The girl that had been there when he had first woken up.
“What’s going on?” Kail asked.
“I’m not sure.” she responded. “If we were under attack
they’d have sounded the horn.” Horn? Kail
wondered. “It looks like people are gathering on the forest floor for some
reason. Maybe they’re going out for a patrol?” Kail looked to see torches
shedding light about, and a few tahke climbing down trees heading to the
ground.
“Shall we get a closer look?” Kail asked. The girl looked at
him in shock, but he could tell she was just as curious as he was. She nodded
enthusiastically. Kail wondered if she’d been told to look after him. Perhaps
the tahke Salomon had assigned her to it. Was she his assistant? He looked
around and realised how easily the tahke could get about. With their claws and
tails they easily climbed up and down the trees. “Erm…” he started. She
realised his dilemma.
“Here.” the girl said, showing him a rope tied to the
platform they were on. “Not everyone here is a good climber. I mean… most of
us, sure, but not everyone. Let’s use these.” she said.
“Thanks.” Kail responded. “I didn’t catch your name by the
way…”
“I’m Siv.” she replied. “I help out Doctor Salomon as much
as I can. When he first got here he shouldered everything himself, and so I
ended up kind of becoming his assistant. For everything he’s doing for us he
deserves some help.”
When he first got
here? So he wasn’t always part of this village? He wanted to ask more but
she let the rope drop down and started to climb down. Kail followed, although
even with the help of a rope it was still hard work. He realised that there was
another platform further down, and he found that every level had ropes so they
could move further down, thankfully. Once they reached the forest floor they
found a large group of tahke. Seeing so many of them together he realised that
the tahke must be naturally a little shorter than humans. Most of them were
around his height or shorter. The height difference was made more noticeable as
a few of them carried torches which shed light on two figures in the middle of
the group. One was Kin, much taller than Kail, and his height was a sharp
contrast to the group of tahke surrounding him. The other was a tahkean that
Kail hadn’t met yet. Taller than Kail, taller than the rest of the tahke and
only slightly shorter than Kin. His light brown hair stood out, made even more
prominent by the horns on his head. Kail was confused. This person had five horns around his head, jutting
through his hair like a crown. He didn’t know much about the tahke, but
everyone he had seen so far had only two horns.
As he was in the habit of doing, Kail tried to look at the
man’s soul. However, surrounded by so many people, Kail couldn’t make it out.
There were too many people in the way. Kail tried to get closer, Siv following
him, but he had difficulty pushing through the crowd.
*
“Your people are well trained.” Kin said, motioning to the
large ring that had opened around them. Around the ring, holding people back,
stood some tahkeans wearing armour, with longswords sheathed at their hips.
“Many thanks, I train them myself.” the tall, five-horned
tahkean replied. “I’d much prefer them to be on patrol though, so let us
conclude this swiftly.” He walked over to one of his warriors who held out a
spear for him.
“Sure thing, Siegfried.” Kin replied. “If I win then I want
you to take me to the island, so I can talk with Soxolfr, and I want to bring
my friend with me.” He walked over to a warrior on the opposite side of the
ring to Siegfried, who also held out a spear for him. The spears looked worlds
apart, however. Kin’s spear looked like any average human spear; a wooden shaft
with a metal, bladed tip. Siegfried’s spear, however, looked to be completely
made from metal. Kin had heard rumours about Siegfried’s strength but… he was
sure that a metal spear would weigh him down, and he was confident in his own
skill.
“And when I win.” Siegfried responded, pointing his spear at
Kin. “You will help me train my warriors, when we’re not on patrol.” Kin
sighed. He’d been out on patrol with some of the tahkean warriors, although
never with Siegfried. Word of his skill must had gotten back to him. Perhaps
he’d been told that Kin had slain the beast that had attacked Kail.
“Sure.” Kin responded. “Although you won’t be winning.” he
said with a smile. Siegfried didn’t respond, a look of utter concentration on
his face as he assumed his pose, his spear held out before him. He waited for
Kin to do the same. Kin waited for a moment, measuring Siegfried up. The weight
of the metal spear didn’t seem to bother him. He showed no movement, except for
his calm breaths. Kin sighed and follow suit. They both calmly and slowly moved
along the outer edge of the circle and slowly closed in, as if each following
the pattern of a spiral intending to meet in the middle.
When they were within each other’s range their spears rose
to meet simultaneously. The clash of metal on metal could be heard by everyone.
They seemed evenly matched as their spearheads deflected off each other time
and time again… but they weren’t evenly matched at all.
Impressive he thought
to himself. Every time their spears met his spear was swung away with unreal
force. He regained control each time and brought it back, only for it to be
deflected wide again. In comparison, Siegfried’s weapon didn’t move much. It
stayed in front of him, slapping Kin’s attacks away. Siegfried stepped forward
and attacked; a straightforward thrust. Kin tried to deflect it but Siegfried
was too strong. He had to sidestep, holding his spear in defence. Siegfried
swung it sideways at him and he had to duck and use his spear to guide it over
him. He had to wonder grimly if the wooden shaft would hold out. Siegfried
swung back, this time aiming at Kin’s
legs, and he had to jump to avoid it. At the same time he brought his spear
down from above towards Siegfried, forcing him to pull his spear back and
deflect the attack. With Kin’s spear out wide, Siegfried swung his down towards
him from above. He wouldn’t be able to deflect it. It wasn’t just a matter of
moving his weapon in the way in time; Siegfried was too physically strong. Even
if he brought the wooden shaft up to block it he felt like it would simply
break. For the first time so far, Kin had to jump back out of the way. He’d
been pushed back. Siegfried had control of the centre of the ring. The fact that his spear is made entirely of
metal doesn’t slow him down in the slightest. Siegfried’s breathing was
still calm. Meanwhile, Kin’s breathing had sped up, needing to draw in more
oxygen to replenish the energy he’d wasted trying to deflect Siegfried’s overpowering
attacks.
“That’s some unreal strength.” Kin said, laughing bitterly.
He couldn’t fight Siegfried as if he was simply another spear user. It would
lead to his doom. He would have to try to outmanoeuvre him and hope he was
faster and more skillful enough to bridge the gap between their strength.
“Are you strong?” Siegfried asked. The question shook Kin
from his thoughts. “I mean no disrespect. Some of my warriors are stronger than
others, but when I spar with them I can’t tell. Are you strong? I can’t tell.”
His tone didn’t seem demeaning or judgemental. Kin could tell he was actually
curious. For some reason that angered him more.
“I like to think I am.” Kin responded. “I train to be
strong, stronger than others. But your strength… It’s as if you’re cheating.”
he said with a laugh. “But don’t worry, strength alone won’t beat me.”
Siegfried cocked his head in curiosity. Kin wondered if Siegfried had ever lost
a fight. He would be happy to sate his curiosity and give him his first taste
of defeat. He would have to use everything he could to win. Siegfried had
control of the ring, so Kin thought about how to use that fact to his
advantage. Siegfried had no reason to move from the centre, and he didn’t seem
to be in a rush to finish the fight.
Kin moved slowly and carefully around the ring, as if a
predator circling its prey. Siegfried remained unshaken. Kin stepped in with an
attack from Siegfried’s left. Siegfried deflected it, driving Kin’s spear down
into the dirt, like Kin had expected him too. Kin jumped back then tried again,
this time from the other side; to the same result. Kin moved around him once
again, throwing in the occasional attack to divert Siegfried’s attention. They
were no mere feints, however. With each attack he tried to find a way past
Siegfried’s defence. His arms burned from overexertion as Siegfried deflected
each attack with unreal strength. Once Kin was in the right place he repeated
the attack pattern from earlier; an attack on each side purposefully aimed so
Siegfried would deflect Kin’s spear into the ground. Siegfried counterattacked,
and Kin jumped back once more. Siegfried’s eyes were on him the entire time.
Kin smiled and stood upright, a safe distance from Siegfried.
“Giving up?” Siegfried asked, curious. Kin’s eyes didn’t
speak of defeat, yet the stance he was in was defenceless. Kin removed a hand
from his spear and pointed at Siegfried.
“Eamepeat!” he shouted. An unfamiliar word. Siegfried was
confused. Even more so as a sudden light glowed from below him. Siegfried
looked down and realised that each time Kin’s spear had been driven into the
dirt he had marked the floor. And the marks… glowed suddenly. The ground
beneath him was suddenly covered in ice. The ice rapidly moved to cover his
feet. He was frozen in place. He looked back up to see a gleeful smile on Kin’s
face as he moved faster than he ever had to the side that Siegfried would be
defenceless from. His eyes spoke of victory.
“Magic?” Siegfried exclaimed, shocked and caught off guard.
Kin dove forward with his spear ahead of him. However,
Siegfried was strong. Unnaturally strong. He pulled his feet free from the ice
as if it was mud, sending shards flying about, and quickly moved to defend. For
the first time in the fight it was a real defence rather than confidently
deflecting Kin’s attacks with ease. He defended with the metal shaft of his
spear, not having enough time to bring the tip around. His feet were free, and
if he could survive that attack than he planned to overpower Kin as fast as he
could, knowing that he had magic at his disposal. He deflected the blow high,
but Kin used all his strength to push down on Siegfried’s spear. Siegfried
offered a slight smirk. He wouldn’t be overpowered. But then he realised his
feet were slipping. He was off-balance. The ice below his feet offered no grip.
Even with his strength, without a good foothold he was defenceless. He couldn’t
believe the outcome as his feet slipped from under him completely and he fell
flat onto his back. The cold permeated through his clothes, causing him to
shiver as Kin stood over him, spear tip pointed into his chest.
“Concede?” Kin asked, unable to hide the joy from his voice,
as if the gleeful smile wasn’t enough. He then noticed that Siegfried had let
go of his weapon with one hand and was gripping the tip of Kin’s spear. His
eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“I concede.” Siegfried said. Kin breathed a sigh of relief.
“Eamepeat.” he said again, and the ice beneath Siegfried
disappeared. He then removed his spear from Siegfried’s chest and offered him a
hand. Siegfried took it and let Kin help him to his feet. No blood. Kin noted. The hand he had grasped was the hand Siegfried
had gripped Kin’s spear tip with, yet it wasn’t wet with blood. It hadn’t
pierced his skin at all. That’s
unnerving.
“Impressive.” Siegfried said. “Magic?” he asked.
“A trick.” Kin offered with a wink. “Used correctly, a
fight-winning trick.”
“Well, you win. I’ll keep my word. Tomorrow I’ll take you
across the lake to see our head, Soxolfr.” Siegfried responded.
“Cheers, Sieg.” Kin replied.
“Don’t call me that.” Sieg responded.
Then someone came forth from the circle. “What’s going on?”
he asked. It was a white-haired human with strange white eyes.
“Awake, Kail? We were just sparring, don’t worry. I did manage
to get you a meeting with Soxolfr though! Aren’t I impressive?” Kin said.
“A spar? That was a…. Err, alright then. Thanks.” Kail
responded. He looked to Sieg. Kin was starting to learn how to tell when Kail
looked at someone’s soul, and he realised Kail had done just that. Apparently a
strange symbol appeared in Kail’s eyes when he did it, but it was dark so he
couldn’t check. However, he was certain Kail had just done it, from the
momentary pause as if he was trying to look at something in detail. “Nice to
meet you, my name is Kail.” he said to Sieg, awkwardly bowing. Kin laughed.
Sieg turned away from him.
“Warriors!” he shouted, gaining the attention of the tahke
wearing armour with swords ready at their hips. “Patrol!” he said. With that
the circle started to disperse, and Sieg left without a word. Kin approached
Kail.
“You looked at his soul, right? Did you notice anything
strange?” Kin asked, wondering about Sieg’s unnatural strength. Kail nodded.
“It’s hard to explain, but there was something strange
there… Something else.”
